Gate: Terra Inconita
by smoers06
Summary: When the mysterious Gate opened between the Japan and the Special Region, it marked an earthquake of political change for both worlds. For the great powers of Earth, the question of how to proceed is an enigma, especially for Japan's ally in the United States. In the Special region, the lords who once swore loyalty to the Empire must now question whether to pursue peace, or war.
1. Prologue: Imperial Glory

"It's only proper that the Lord of House Duron carry the Imperial Colors into battle. It is our sacred duty."

The tone of Gallus Duron's voice was one of absolute truth, as if his words were etched into stone tablets and had never been contradicted. That wasn't the case of course, but Hexen didn't see the point of correcting him with facts about ancient history.

"I understand that father." He chose to say instead. "But tradition aside, the danger of the situation is self-evident. No one knows what truly lies beyond the Gate. Surely the Emperor can see that an attack of this magnitude is a great risk."

"Mind your tongue boy." Gallus admonished him, looking around to make sure there was no one in earshot. The Imperial Palace was a vast and magnificent building that brought together the greatest of architects and materials from all over the vast realm to aid in its construction, truly the jewel in the Imperial crown. But it was often frequented by the ambitious, power hungry nobles and shrewd senators bringing business of one kind or another to the Emperor and his primary Lieutenants. Hexen didn't think anything he said was particularly disloyal or could otherwise be twisted as such, but apparently his father didn't want to take any chances. "Of course the Emperor can see the risks involved, but it was agreed that we cannot allow such a golden opportunity for territory and wealth past the Gate is simply too important to pass. A blunt strike while we have the element of surprise is the best way to crush the lands beyond before they even know what's happening is the best chance to bring about a swift victory."

"I suppose that makes sense." Hexen conceded. It was a strategy that fit comfortably with the Duron way of war. Every knight trained under their tutelage, either for the house itself or for other Imperial nobility, were taught the same tactics of battle. Strike hard, strike fast, and leave no hesitation for mercy. It had been a doctrine that had been perfected over centuries of trial and error. There was no reason to begin doubting it now. "But having both you and Edmund going on the expedition makes me worry."

"You're beginning to sound like your mother." Gallus replied, the harshness in his tone replaced with a growing smile. "She always would let worry consume her before I went to battle."

"I'm not consumed with worry." Hexen protested. "It's just...I don't know."

"Don't let it bother you My Lord. I'm certain the boy will be able to distract himself with the excitement of keeping track of proper tax revenues and levy rosters."

Hexen blinked, seeing a large man with greying dark hair standing before them, the right sleeve of his garment tied off to prevent it from hanging loosely. Beside him, sitting in a comfortable looking chair, Hexen's brother Edmund sipped at a cup of tea that smelled of exotic spices. Like their father, Edmund was dressed in the padded clothing typically worn under armor. It took Hexen a moment to realize that they were in the bedroom his father and brother had been given as honorary guests of the Emperor, having been too lost in the conversation as well as his own thoughts to see where he was being guided.

"Yes, truly it shall be the most exciting period of my life thus far." He said dryly, trying to use the humor to cover up his momentary surprise. He should have been more aware of his surroundings and situation. A knight, especially one of his bloodline, always had to be alert. No less in the cutthroat world of Imperial politics then on the battlefield.

"I would not joke so lightly." Gallus cautioned. "Do not forget that we are taking a large part of our army with us. You should still have plenty of soldiers and militia to deal with any odd groups of bandits or daring gaggles of orcs, but be cautious, nonetheless. Some may see this as an opportunity to plunder our lands."

"I think Hexen can deal with whatever happens." Edmund chimed in, smirking over at them. "He can lead the militia into battle himself if need be. Finally put into practice his unique style of frantic flailing with his sword to confuse his opponents. Emperor knows he's had plenty of practice."

"We need our hobbies brother." Hexen answered, looking back his way. "Like fleeing from a castle for dear life after being caught in bed with a Senator's daughter."

That brought a laugh out of Edmund, and a raised brow from their father.

"Dare I ask what he is talking about?"

"Nothing to concern yourself with father." Edmund replied, trying without much success to recompose himself. "Simply some...extra training on the side."

"Perhaps it's fortunate you're bringing young Edmund with you after all old friend." The one-armed man, chuckling with good humor. "Allows any angry nobles time to forget any transgressions that may or may not have occurred."

"Perhaps." Gallus grunted. "Do try to make sure Hexen doesn't do anything similarly foolish, will you Myron? I would prefer to come back to find both my sons are still living."

"It gladdens me that after nearly two decades of entrusting me to educate your heirs that you now find me worthy of ensuring their carnal desires do not cost them their life." Myron said.

All four men laughed at that, followed by an uncomfortable silence that seemed to loom over each of them in a unique way. For a moment, Hexen wondered what was going through his father's mind. What did he think about on the eve of battle? Was there ever any fear of death? Or had he left that behind him long ago in wars won before he had even been old enough to speak?

As usual, it was Edmund who broke the silence. He set the now empty teacup back on the small table that was in front of the chair, rising to his feet.

"We should go now, father. The soldiers should have finished their preparations by now."

"You are likely correct." Gallus agreed. He turned to face Hexen, his expression serious, but soft. "I know this might seem a frightening challenge right now, but I am certain you are more than equal to the task. With luck, this campaign with be a swift one, but regardless of its length you will be acting as Lord until our return. Remember to keep your wits about you, and you will do fine."

"I'll try to make you proud father." Hexen promised.

"You already have my boy." His father said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Next time I ride out to battle, you will be by my side. This I swear."

"None will be able to stand against us when that day comes."

"That's what I like to hear." Gallus said, withdrawing his hand and turning to go as Edmund stepped forward to depart as well.

"Try not to win too many battles without me." Hexen called to his brother. "They'll be no living with you if the Senate gives another Triumph in your name."

"We'll just have to find you a proper enemy to fight when I get back!" Edmund called over his shoulder as they walked away. "Along with a maiden to bed."

"Edmund!"

"Coming father!"

Edmund broke into a run, disappearing around the corner and leaving Hexen alone with Myron. His gaze lingered on the spot his father and elder brother had been just a moment before, listening to the sounds of their fading footsteps as they went out to join with the rest of the army. Then, silence.

Suddenly, he was Lord Duron. Even if it was only until they returned home. Hexen felt the reality of the situation settle on his shoulders as if a griffin had decided to land upon them, along with a sudden queasiness that slithered its way into his stomach. He tried to shake it off. Self-doubt would not help anyone, least of all him, in this time. Keeping a level head would be essential.

"Wishing you were going with them?" Myron's voice entered his internal struggle, snapping him back to reality.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't." Hexen admitted. "I'd rather be fighting the enemies of the Empire with a sword in my hand rather than battling internal trade disputes with a quill, but I also worry for them. The Gate is a mystery of which there are no answers save for that of legend. Not the most reliable of sources under the best of circumstances."

"Such concerns show wisdom." Myron nodded. "I wish your brother would share in your caution every once in a while, rather than show an eagerness for bloodshed as often as he does."

"You're trying to change the subject."

"Not at all. In truth I too hold some worry, but I believe we can set it aside with good reason. Edmund is one of the finest knights I've ever trained and a skilled tactician to boot. And I've seen the talents of your father firsthand on the fields of war. This isn't their first campaign, and personally I doubt that even the might of the gods could slow them down once they've set their mind to battle."

"Careful, that could be considered blasphemy."

"Not if it's the truth." Myron said, favoring Hexen with a small smile. "If you wish, I believe there is a part of the palace that would grant an excellent view of the army as it departs."

Hexen considered for a moment, then nodded.

"Yes, I believe I know where you're talking about."

He started forward, Myron falling in behind him in the traditional spot as would show himself as an advisor to nobility. It was strange to have his lifelong tutor take up such a position, especially considering their great difference in age, but Hexen understood the significance of the gesture. He drew himself up to his full height and tried to walk with all the confidence and dignity that would befit an Imperial High Lord. There were others moving about the palace, mostly scribes and advisors of lower importance, but several were nobles and even a few Senators judging by their garb. There were so many noble families within the lands of the Empire that Hexen could never even hope to know all of them. His father made a point to be friendly with as many members of the Imperial Senate as he could, understanding the need for friends in the world of politics, but he had never gotten around to bringing Hexen to any proper Senate gathering. That privilege had thus far only been given to Edmund as the Heir to House Duron. It was another experience that, like being able to join his father on the battlefield, Hexen would have to wait for another time.

They reached the other side of the Palace, climbing up a flight of stairs to reach the desired vantage point on the second floor. Upon arriving however, they discovered they were not the only ones who wished to see the army depart. A woman with braided red hair and a flowing cape at her back stood before the large windows, gazing outward. Hexen paused as she turned to face them, bowing respectfully.

"Princess Piña," He greeted her. "Trying to get a view of the army as well?"

Princess Piña Co Lada was a bit younger than Hexen, always easy to spot with Ruby colored eyes that matched her hair and the light armor she seemed to prefer wearing to anything else. She was the only member of the royal family that Hexen was decently familiar with, having had some friendly interactions during their respective trainings over the years and at a few formal occasions that his brother had brought him along too. Edmund was friends with the crown prince, Zorzal, and had even fought alongside him during a war a few years ago. Hexen had only interacted with him on a couple of occasions and was more than a little suspicious that he and his brother encouraged one another's less than honorable attributes.

"Hello Hexen," Piña greeted him. "Yes, I wished to get a glimpse of the force my father is sending through the Gate. I'm surprised to see you here, I thought I saw several House Duron standards among them."

"You saw correctly." Hexen said, stepping beside her near the window. "My father and brother are leading our contingent of troops for the invasion. I've been left to administer our lands in their stead."

"With some assistance to ensure you don't waste all the money in your treasury on lavish festivals?" Piña asked, a rueful smile on her face as she looked behind Hexen. "Greetings Sir Myron."

"M'lady." Myron answered, bowing his head.

"I would think your Uncle would have been left to rule in Lord Gallus's stead." Piña said, turning back towards Hexen. "That would have made you available to join in on the conquest."

"My uncle and cousin are away wyvern hunting at the moment." Hexen explained, shrugging. "Besides, my father wants me to gain some experience in Stewardship. It's not like the Empire will have a shortage of wars I won't be able to join in as time goes on."

"Yes...patience is indeed a virtue when it comes to awaiting glory." Piña said, her tone nearly as whispered as her eyes looked out past the palace. Hexen felt a pang of sympathy for her realizing Piña was probably even more frustrated with the situation then he was.

Piña was the Master of her own group of knights, The Order of the Rose. They were as well trained and equipped as any other but had thus far done little for the Imperial Army other then Color Guard duty. Some said it was because the Emperor didn't want to risk his daughter in battle, but very few agreed with that since his sons had marched to war plenty of times. The more agreed upon explanation was that it came down to gender. Much of the Order of the Rose was female like Piña, and apparently that was an issue. It was a strange excuse to Hexen's ears. Plenty of cultures outside of the Empire had no qualms about using females as soldiers, most famously the Warrior bunnies that had nearly delivered an embarrassing defeat to the Crown Prince himself. Even House Duron employed both genders for its armies, a tradition that went back to the days when they had been Kings before the rise of the Empire. But they were a minority, an exception to the generally accepted rules. Nearly all other lands that made up the Empire used males exclusively as their soldiers, with the Senate and the Emperor only allowing for rare exceptions. Apparently, the expedition beyond the Gate was not one of those exceptions.

"Well, we should still prepare ourselves for the day the Empire does call upon our service." Hexen said, trying to lighten the mood. "Why don't you bring your knights over to Duron lands in the near future? We can use the training grounds there to sharpen our skills."

"Really?" Piña raised a brow. "I didn't know such plans could be made in a short period of time."

"They normally can't." Hexen agreed. "But with much of our forces and Knights leaving for the invasion, we'll have both the space and the resources to accommodate such short notice requests."

"How fortunate for us then." She smiled slightly. "I'll consider it, I know many in the order would jump at the chance to make use of the Duron training grounds."

"You flatter us your majesty."

"And the opportunity for 'Lord" Hexen to find some courtship opportunities wouldn't hurt either." Myron said from behind them.

"MYRON!" Hexen whirled on his former tutor, both to glare at him and hide the heat that had suddenly risen in his face from the Princess. The old knight gave him a look of innocence.

"My job is to help advise and support you in all things, 'my lord'." He said with a glimmer in his eye. "That includes helping find you a proper bride to be."

Hexen prepared a sharp retort but stopped himself when he heard Piña burst out in laughter.

"You're truly lucky to have such a loyal servant Lord Hexen." She said, her tone that of good-natured mocking.

"Yes, so very lucky…" Hexen grumbled, still fixing Myron with his most intimidating look. It didn't seem to be working all that well.

"Regardless, it appears the army is preparing to move out." Piña said. Hexen paused in his internal plans of revenge to look back at the window, having nearly forgotten why they had come up here to begin with. Outside, in between the Palace and the gates to the Capital city, thousands of soldiers stood in their formations. This wasn't the entire army of course, just those of the most noble and distinguished of bloodlines that had been invited to the capital to be seen off by the Emperor himself before meeting up with the other part of the army to go through the Gate. Dozens of Banners flew, showing the colors of both Noble houses and Knightly orders. Hexen recognized a few of them, having seen some during his travels with his father or for training on Duron lands at one point or another. Above all of them flew the standard of the Empire, the gold and purple flag acting as the glue that bound together this impressive force from all across the realm. Hexen strained his eyes to see the front of the House Duron forces, recognizable from the others by their own banners. A pair of armored figures mounted their horses at the head of this impressive gathering, the metal plates gleaming in the sunlight as freshly polished steel the soldiers cheering loudly at the arrival of their Lord. Even at this distance, Hexen could see the symbol of the red wolf emblazoned upon a black painted breastplate, the emblem worn by all of Duron blood when going into battle. He began to feel more jealous than ever of his brother, and more than a little foolish.

What had he been so worried about? His father was one of the most talented Generals in the history of the Empire with decades of experience, and Edmund had already proven himself to be a skilled warrior in several smaller campaigns. To round it out, they were leading the finest soldiers in the world, the Imperial Army that ruled the largest nation the planet had ever seen. Whatever lay beyond the Gate would certainly be crushed in a short amount of time.

"Maybe there will be enough land on the other side that we'll be able to take part in follow up attacks, once the initial conquest has been achieved." Hexen said, mostly to himself as he watched the armies now departing with their Lords leading the way out into the city.

"We will have to wait for them to send messengers back for us to see." Piña glanced back at Hexen. "Will you be returning to your estate?"

"Not right away. We've made arrangements to stay the night here in the Capital and depart in the morning."

"I see. Then perhaps we may happen upon each other again." She turned to face the two men. "But for now, I have business to attend to for the Order. Good evening to you both."

"Good evening your majesty." Both Hexen and Myron said, bowing as she departed. Hexen looked one last time through the window, getting a final glimpse of the army as the gates closed behind them.

"I don't suppose there's any chance we can stay in the Capital a few days more?" He asked.

"Unfortunately not." Myron shook his head. "The outlying villages are still under threat from roving bands of orcs and those damned Forest Rangers. Staying away too long could be seen as a sign of weakness to them."

"That at least sounds like it should have some excitement."

"We also have to meet with the Steward, he will have an updated tax report that we'll have to verify to make sure none are stealing from our coffers."

Hexen sighed. He could already tell his tenure as Lord was going to be a painful one.


	2. Chapter 1: Contact Ginza

"Feeling nervous, Rai?"

"Please, I can read you like a book."

"Lucky for me you never read anything."

"Oh, so you've got jokes now. Put up or shut up."

"You're choice. Once, twice, shoot!"

Rai confidently threw out his hand, then felt his smugness drain away as he saw the solid rock that faced the pointed ends of his scissors.

"Ha!" Okamura's look of triumph was plastered on his face. "I'll have the usual beef bowl. I'm sure you've lost enough times by now to know the place."

"Yeah yeah…" Rai grumbled, starting toward the nearby crossroads. "Try not to starve to death before I get back. It'd make a pretty embarrassing headline. 'Robberies on the rise in Tokyo while officer collapses from hunger waiting for lunch'."

It was another crowded day in Ginza. The usual mobs of shoppers mixed with foreign tourists made for sidewalks that were difficult to navigate without accidentally bumping into someone. The locals were adept enough to make it through it all without too much difficulty, but visitors who weren't use to the rush were having a bit more difficulty, with foreigners having the most notable amount of trouble. Americans especially tended to stick above others. They usually either looked completely lost when it came to anything Japanese, or had somehow gotten the idea in their heads that all of Japanese culture was nothing but Otaku crap, and wore clothing based off this assumption in order to "blend in". It was made worse at the moment because there actually was an Otaku convention in town, many of the attendants walking the streets in full cosplay. These tended to range from impressive looking replicas of mecha suits, to what seemed to be stripper versions of the character they were supposedly portraying. A few gave him odd looks as they passed by, as if they were afraid he was going to arrest them for terrible design choices. Rai just ignored them for the most part, making no eye contact as he continued on his way. He didn't really understand the Otaku's, but so long as they kept to themselves and didn't cause any trouble, he didn't really have a problem with them either.

"_Any available officers in the Ginza district, we have a possible situation developing downtown." _The voice of a dispatch controller came from Rai's radio. _"Citizens report bizarre activity on the intersection of Ninth and twenty second street."_

Rai paused. If he remembered correctly, that was close to the Convention Center, where both he and Okamura had patrolled by earlier. Not too far away from where he was now.

"This is Officer Rai, I'm in route now." He said into the radio, picking up his pace as he changed direction. Okamura would just have to wait for his so desired beef bowl. "What's happening over there? Some drunks fighting?"

"_The situation is unclear right now. We're receiving confusing reports from citizens, and we're hoping officers can get a solid idea of the details."_

"Understood." Rai said. He sped up to just short of a run, a pace he could still move at without having to push people aside. After all, it didn't sound like an emergency. Likely some businessmen had one too many during lunch and things had gotten a bit rowdy, or some bizarre street performers were weirding out shoppers. Whatever it was, it probably wouldn't take awfully long to deal with.

He rounded the corner towards the intersection, taking in a breath for preparation to yell for people to stand aside, only for it to catch in his throat. Sitting in the middle of the street was a large stone structure, one that had definitely not been there earlier a few hours earlier. A pair of massive doors were at its front, and what looked like a glowing blue crystal sitting atop them. On the face of it, it looked like something out of a movie or anime, and Rai wondered if this was some elaborate PR stunt by an ambitious marketing team with way too much money. Maybe the other people in the street were thinking something similar, as a crowd had gathered around it, talking loudly and taking pictures with their phones. For a moment, Rai debated whether he should start telling people to back away from it, not sure if it was dangerous or just a novelty. He decided it would be better to be safe than sorry.

"Dispatch, this is Officer Rai." He said into his radio, starting forward again. "There seems to be a-"

He was cut off by a series of loud bangs that came from the mysterious structure. Some people took steps backwards, and silence fell over the street. Then the large pair of doors began to slowly swing open, the quiet becoming tense as everyone seemed to be holding their breath. It was shattered by a sudden blast of wind that Rai could feel even from the back of the crowd as several shadows shot out of the newly formed opening.

Rai had to close his eyes against the gust for a moment, only to question the validity of his sight after reopening them. A stream of what looked like horse mounted Cavalry wielding spears and wearing armor that looked like it belonged in an ancient history museum were pouring from the now open doors. For a few heartbeats, he felt something like relief. So, this was a PR stunt, probably to go along with the convention in town. Why else would anyone wear such stupid outfits?

Then he saw the blood.

At first, he didn't understand what his eyes were telling him. The horse mounted crazies were charging into the gathering of people and stabbing out with their weapons without care or caution. Several people were fully impaled, then the entire scene broke down into utter chaos. The city goers, who had gathered around the gate in fascination just a few moments earlier, had transformed into a terrified and screaming horde that pushed and trampled anyone or anything that got between them and safety. Rai reached for his gun, but both of his arms became pinned to his sides as panicked people continued to push their way past him. More and more figures emerged from the gate, foot soldiers wearing armor like their Calvary comrades and monstrous looking creatures that charged into the slaughter with murderous glee.

Now shoving people out of the way with his shoulders, Rai managed to get himself clear enough of the madness to draw his pistol with one hand and grabbing his radio with the other.

"Dispatch! We have an emergency situation on the intersection of Ninth and Twenty Second streets!" He yelled to be heard over the background commotion. "We are under attack by an unknown group of assailants! Multiple civilian casualties! Armed response requ-"

A stabbing pain exploded in his side, making Rai yowl and fall on his back. The tail end of an arrow was sticking out from his torso, blood soaking from the wound into his uniform.

"What...the hell…" He gasped. Rai forced himself to sit back up, seeing several of the mounted attackers charging in his direction. Still feeling the comforting weight of the pistol in his hands, Rai raised the gun and pulled the trigger. Then again. And again. The sound of the shooting was deafened by the blood thundering in his ears as Rai focused on trying to keep his hands as steady as possible.

Several of the riders fell of their mounts, one horse collapsed on its own and sent the soldier on its back flying. Had he hit them? Or had help arrived already?

He suddenly realized that he could no longer feel the recoil pressure on his arms, and he looked down to see the slider on his pistol locked in the back position. Empty. He reached for another magazine on his belt, his hands shaking violently with every movement. His eyes drifted to the scene around him, a sick feeling settling over him. The panicked mob was gone, replaced by bodies they littered the street. The living that remained were in little better condition, being dragged back towards the gaping maw of the gate while screaming for someone to help them and sobbing uncontrollably. Rai had to stop this, he had to do _something._

A shadow passed over him from above, and he looked up to see what looked like a small dragon circling over him like a vulture. He fumbled to put the new magazine in his pistol, then the scaled beast suddenly dived down towards him at blinding speed. A rider was now visible on its back, armed with a Lance that was pointed right at Rai's chest. The last thing he felt was the cold bite of steel on flesh.

~oOo~

Hurry up and wait.

Verb. The act of rushing to get somewhere as fast as you could; only to be told to sit down, shit up, and twiddle your thumbs while you stuck around until being told to do something.

Sergeant Justin "Joker" Salter had been forced through it so many times during his career that he was now an old pro at the art of wasting time. After all, half the job of being a Scout Sniper was knowing how to wait for just the right moment, and usually in places far less pleasant. Overall, waiting around didn't really bother him much anymore save for rare exceptions. This was one of those cases.

Both he and the other Marines in his company had been eager enough to leave Korea and head back for the states, and had made no arguments when they had all been rushed to board the C-17 like they were basic trainees being pushed through a chow hall. They had been less enthusiastic when the Globemaster had suffered mechanical trouble and been forced to land at Yokota Air Force Base in Tokyo, and then subsequently had been shoved into an empty hangar. They'd been told to wait until new transportation had been arranged, which would be soon. Probably.

There had been loud grumblings and more than a little complaining for the first couple hours, and again in the fourth hour. But now that they were halfway into the fifth hour, things had mostly quieted down. Joker had decided to take advantage of the rare opportunity to try to get a quick nap in. Placing his helmet over his eyes and propping up his rucksack as a makeshift pillow, he was comfortable enough to feel his annoyance at the current situation beginning to slowly drain away.

"Hey, Joker."

But it was now threatening to bubble right back up again.

He ignored the voice and the accompanying kick to his leg, hoping his attacker would choose another victim to torment. But it was to no avail.

"Joker! Hey!" The voice was louder, and the kick harder. "You asleep or something?"

Joker made a noise in the back of his throat, lifting his helmet to glare at whoever had disturbed his precious sleep.

"Can I fuckin help you?" He demanded.

Corporal Diego "Reaper" Martinez gave him a mock hurt look at his words.

"I was just gonna ask if you had heard from Captain Mitchell yet." He said.

"Oh sure, I was just talking with him now actually." Joker said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Using my magic powers, I discerned that you're going to be court martialed for being a dumbass when we get back home."

"...So, is that a no?"

Joker had to push down the urge to roundhouse kick his spotter in the groin, though the totally fake innocent look on his face wasn't making it easy.

"Why don't you go play in a mound of fire ants? I'm sure the Japanese versions have some kind of deadly venom or something."

"You're not that lucky." Reaper said, setting in next to Joker. "So, when's the next plane getting here."

"How in the hell am I supposed to know?" Joker said, not bothering to hide the annoyance from his voice. "It'll get here when it gets here."

"But I'm bored."

"Sounds like a personal problem." Joker grunted. "I would have figured Scout school would have crushed that problem anyway."

"Why just sniper school?" Reaper snorted. "My whole damn time in the Corps has taught me to wait around for absolutely no fucking reason."

"Then why are you complaining?"

"Because it gives me something to do."

Joker closed his eyes again, letting out a long groan.

"You know, grunts like you are the reason why they put us in empty hangers without air conditioning." He said. "Anything left in here, you'd break just to keep yourself occupied."

"That's rich coming from you." Reaper said. "Considering you pass your time by hitting on everything that moves."

"At least that doesn't result in destruction of government property."

"Yeah, just a bunch of sexual harassment lawsuits."

"Fuck you." Joker scoffed, shoving his partner lightly on the shoulder.

He looked around him, seeing that most of the other Marines were either following Joker's lead by trying to get some extra sleep in, or were playing on their phones. He decided that it wasn't so bad. Even if they were waiting around, they at least they weren't doing constant exercises like they had been in Korea. For now, they could relax, just a little bit.

It was right in the middle of this thought that Joker heard the speaker attached to the top of the hangar abruptly came to life. A siren tone blasted loudly from it, making all the jarheads sit up in confusion.

"_ALARM YELLOW, MOPP LEVEL TWO. ALARM YELLOW, MOPP LEVEL TWO. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. ALL PERSONNEL STANDBY FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS."_

The Marines all sprung to their feet, tearing into their rucks to grab at their gear as they rushed from their interrupted relaxation to battle ready postures.

"What in the hell?!" Reaper demanded. "I thought we just left the party, is it following us?"

"Maybe you're just following you Reaper," Joker said, checking his M4 with a quick visual inspection. "The Koreans just can't get enough."

"This isn't a joke man; you heard the thing, right?!" Reaper demanded.

"Yeah, I'm not deaf thanks." Joker shot back as he shed all his non-combat essential equipment.

The sound of squealing tires outside drew his attention, and Joker saw a Humvee power slide to a stop just inside of the hanger. The driver side door opening to reveal Captain Mitchell.

"Ready up Marines!" He shouted. "We're moving out!"

"Yeah thanks for telling us to do exactly what we're already doing sir…" Reaper grunted as he pulled on his flak vest, not loud enough for Mitchell to hear him obviously. Joker ignored him, running up toward his commanding officer.

"What's happening sir?"

"We're not sure." Mitchell said, glancing around as he got a headcount. "An attacking force is moving through Tokyo, at least an army corps is size. We've been asked to do whatever we can to help the JSDF repel them."

A whole army corps, and all they had was two platoons of infantry with no armor support or heavy weapons. Just great.

"Who's attacking? China? Russia?" He pressed. "How the hell did they get this far without someone noticing?"

"I don't know Joker." The Captain looked at him. "The whole situation is clear as mud, and no one seems to have any idea what's exactly going on. When I learn more, so will you. Understood?"

"Yes sir." He nodded. "What are our orders?"

"The Air Force has some Ospreys here that are already fueled up for some exercises, but we'll be using them to ride into the city and slow down the enemy as best as we can." Mitchell explained. "I'm gonna need you with us on this one. Sergeant Brown still hasn't recovered from his broken leg yet, so I'm putting you in charge of Archer One Two. Can you do that?"

"I still remember some of NCOA." Joker nodded. "What about ammo?"

"Chair force is gonna have mags and grenades ready for us when we go to board the choppers." A voice came from inside the Humvee, the radio too quiet to be understood at this distance. "Can you brief the others? I'm gonna see if I can get anything else before we head out."

"Count on me." Joker hustled back to the others, raising his voice to be heard loud and clear. "Listen up! Coffee break's over, we're back on the clock boys and girls!"

~oOo~

The battle alert had come, quite unfairly, when Captain Morgan "Talisman" Wu had been in the middle of some ice cream. And not the cheap kind either.

Mourning internally over her loss, she'd been forced to leave the desert orphaned on the table as she and the rest of the combat chopper pilots in Ichigaya had scrambled to get into the air as quickly as possible. They hadn't been given orders so much as a direction, as they headed for Tokyo.

Most of them, including Talisman herself, assumed it was all some elaborate drill to simulate an invasion or something. She'd started to have her doubts when she saw her Apache had been loaded with live ordnance rather than the usual dummy rounds. Now that she could see the smoke plumes rising in the distance, all hopes of this not being the real thing evaporated.

"Oh my god," The voice of her co-pilot, 2nd Lieutenant Egawa Isao, sounded in her ear. "This is really happening, we're really under attack…"

"Keep it together Razor." Talisman said, forcing her voice to sound steadier then she felt. "We've trained for this, we're ready."

Is was easy to make such a claim when you were in a heavily armed attack helicopter accompanied by nearly a dozen other heavily armed attack helicopters. But something wasn't right, a glaring fact that was nagging at her.

"Who would attack Tokyo without hitting Ichigaya first? Or at least at the same time?" She asked. "They'd have to know we'd respond. Why give us time to get into the air?"

"_Maybe they aren't too bright." _The voice of another helicopter, Predator Two, replied. _"It doesn't sound like they hit the American Air Base yet either."_

"_Maybe just a terrorist attack then?" _Another voice Talisman didn't recognize chimed in. _"Aimed at the city rather than the bases?"_

"_This would be one hell of a terrorist attack if that's the case…"_

"_Attention all JSDF helicopters approaching Tokyo air space." _The voice of a controller cut in. _"The situation in the city is still unclear at this time. A hostile force appears to be occupying both Ginza and the Government district, and civilians are currently scattered everywhere. You are prohibited from using rocket or missile attacks on any buildings without permission."_

"In Tokyo, that's basically going to mean only the main gun." Talisman said. "Hopefully they didn't bring any tanks with them, whoever they are."

"_Tally ho, I have visual on enemy fliers above the city."_

Talisman frowned, squinting as she tried to see. There did seem to be some dark blobs flying near the skyscrapers, but it wasn't using any flight pattern she'd ever seen, ducking up, then down, then back up and circling.

"That looks like a bird in flight." Razor said, sounding as confused at Talisman felt. "Not any kind of helicopters or fighters."

As they drew closer, the dark blobs began to form into shapes, and Talisman began to think her co-pilot had been right on the money. Whatever they were, they had outstretched wings and we're flapping around, with something on their backs.

"_Holy fucking shit, are those DRAGONS?!" _Predator Two demanded.

Talisman's eyes widened, now not being able to unsee the connection. Dragons, above Tokyo. This sounded like the start to a bad Kaiju movie. And bad Kaiju movies never ended well for Helicopter pilots.

The dragons, or whatever they really were, had apparently spotted them as well, as they started racing towards the JSDF responders.

"Here they come!" Razor sounded, his voice on the urge of panic.

"_All callsigns, you are cleared to engage!"_

The King Cobra in the lead pitched itself forward, as if it were going to ram the oncoming dragon head on.

"_Striker Three, Guns guns guns!"_

The Cobra's minigun spun up, spitting out hot led as the bullets tore into the dragon. The slugs shredded the creature, and it fell towards the earth in several different pieces.

"_Holy shit, that actually worked?"_

"Uh, Talisman?" Razor said. "We've got incoming!"

She tore her gaze from the falling creature to look ahead of her own aircraft, seeing another coming straight towards them. They weren't yet in range of their main gun, but she had a different idea.

"Heat seekers should be able to track a target like that right?" She asked out loud.

"Uh, in theory yes." Razor replied.

"Then let's put theory into practice." She hit some switches on her console. "Arming Stinger missiles now. Switching controls to you."

"Got it." Razor, who sounded much calmer now, hit the acknowledgement.

"Here we go…" Talisman pushed forward on her throttle, increasing her speed as she brought the Apache's altitude higher.

"Got a lock!"

"Take!"

"Predator One, Fox Two!"

The helicopter rumbled slightly as the missile launched from its rack. As hoped, it tracked right towards the overgrown lizard and detonated right in its face. In also fell away towards the ground, a smoking a charred ruin.

"...I think we just earned ourselves free drinks for life with this story." Talisman said, whistling softly.

"_Predator One this is Predator Two."  
_

"Go ahead two."

"_I think I see something on the road towards the Government district, might be some kind of APC_. _Can you cover me while we take a look?_"

Talisman glanced out her cockpit, seeing the other Apache at her four o'clock.

"Copy, let me pull around."

She gently coaxed the stick to pull the chopper in the desired direction, dropping altitude as she fell in behind Predator Two. The pair dropped down towards the streets below. It was eerily empty, no foot traffic at all. Either everyone had already gotten out of dodge or were taking shelter in the buildings and praying the trouble didn't follow them inside. What cars there were sat motionless, either parked on the side of the road or completely abandoned for one reason or another. Now that she had come around though, she could see the street that Predator Two had indicated wasn't entirely empty. There was definitely something big moving down there, but it wasn't an APC.

"Two, try to keep a safe distance. I can't make out what that is." She ordered. Either the other Apache pilot didn't hear her or was so focused on the task that he couldn't.

"_It kind of looks like a big person, but that can't be ri- oh shit!"_

Predator Two suddenly and violently pulled backwards, as what looked like a giant ball of stone went flying towards it, barely evading in time. Talisman's eyes flickered back towards where it had come from, now being low enough to see a huge blue skinned thing shaking its fist at the sky. It had to be at least ten feet tall, with muscles that bulged out in almost cartoony ways. It ripped the door off a nearby car and reared back in preparation to throw that as well. But Talisman was faster.

"Predator One, Guns guns guns!" She squeezed the trigger on her control stick, the chain gun under her feet rumbling as the entire street below was ripped apart by high explosive rounds. The creature let out a howl of pain so loud that even Talisman could hear it as the monster was reduced to a bloody mess. "You alright Two?"

"_We're all fine over here." _The other pilot answered. _"Did you see that thing? It was a monster."_

"It looked like some kind of troll or ogre." Razor said. "Like something straight out of a manga."

"_What the hell, did Mordor declare war on us or something?"_

"_Attention all callsigns in the Tokyo airspace."_ The controller's voice returned. _"You have new orders. All Striker Group members, you are to head south to contain any further enemy action and support a civilian evacuation. Predator group, the First Division is going to be rolling into the city soon and we need you to clear a path for them."_

"Predator One, acknowledged." Talisman said, raising their altitude once more. "Get ready to do some shooting Razor."

"I-yeah! We'll get it done!"


	3. Chapter 2: Better Dragons

"Latest intel has the largest cluster of hostiles moving towards the old city." Captain Mitchell was saying as the Osprey shifted to maneuver around the large buildings. "But there are still smaller groups detached from the main force that are apparently spreading out and clubbing any civilians they can find."

"_Shit, that's going to be messy with a population as big as Tokyo's."_ Sergeant Smith, head of Archer One Three, commented over the radio from a different chopper. Joker wasn't an expert on the subject, but he knew that the metropolitan area and the surrounding districts held over ten million people. With how densely packed everything was here, the body count from this wasn't going to be pretty.

"JSDF is moving to head off their main advance, but they want us to set up blocking positions northwest of the government district to contain the situation as best we can." Mitchell checked the GPS locator attached to his wrist. "Don't need to tell you all that we're operating in with a heavily restricted ROE, no airstrikes or strafing runs. Watch your fire and refrain from using explosives as much as possible."

"Any more info on what we're up against?" Joker asked, checking over his M4 one last time. He would have been more comfortable using a long gun, but he'd been forced to leave his behind in Korea after they'd left. A battle rifle was better suited to the current mission environment anyway.

"Still trying to nail down specifics." Something in the Captain's answer put Joker immediately on guard. "Contact reports from Police and chopper units suggest the enemy is using…outdated equipment."

"Define 'outdated'." Reaper said. "Cold War tech?"

"Try medieval. They apparently aren't using firearms of any kind."

Silence greeted that statement, as everyone tried to process what they'd just heard.

"Like…swords and shields?" Another Marine finally asked.

"Along with horse calvary, some sort of flying reptiles, and large biological humanoids akin to Ogres."

"All due respect sir, but this is a really bad moment to start picking up Joker's habit of spouting bullshit." Reaper said, the dubiousness in his voice matched by the expressions of those around them.

"Do you see me laughing, Corporal?" Mitchell answered, his serious tone not quite masking his own uncertainty. "Like I said, no one's sure what the hell is going on down there. Be ready for anything. Oohrah?"

"Oohrah!"

This had to be some kind of complex exercise, or a prank that had just gotten way out of hand. What other explanation could there be for that kind of OPFOR description?

"_Thirty seconds." _The pilot said.

All the logical explanations faded away as the rear door opened, and the waling of emergency service sirens could be heard punctuating the sounds of distant screaming and gunfire. Further away, Joker spotted an F-15 flying low over the city, firing off a missile at something small and fast before turning it into a fireball. This was real, no matter who or what was attacking.

_Fine. If Medieval Times wants to throw down, I'm game to party. _He though, choosing to set aside the million questions and focus himself on the coming fight. Others around him were having as much success. Many of them had been to Afghanistan with Joker on his last deployment, but plenty others were green boots who'd never seen combat before. It was easy to tell just from their faces who was green and who'd been bloodied.

"_Ten seconds!"_

Well, maybe it was time to at least act the part of a competent NCO.

"Time to earn all those free drinks at the bar, marines." Joker called out. "Give your wives something to brag about to their boyfriends."

That brought out a couple of snickers and a few rude gestures, but the edge seemed to be at least slightly relieved. The chopper lurched as it slowed down, dropping lower and lower until it was at ground level.

"Green light! Let's move!" Mitchell ordered, freeing himself from his restraints and being first off the chopper. Joker was right behind his CO, stepping down onto the black asphalt and taking a covering position that gave a wide field of fire. They had landed in the heart of Tokyo, large buildings lining the street to either side dotted occasionally with smaller structures that looked like convenience stores or some other businesses. It was largely clear of vehicle traffic, though some cars were still parked on the sidewalks as panicked civilians fled away from the direction of the danger. "Showtime, this is Archer One Actual. We've arrived at LZ and are setting up defensive positions now. Be advised, we have a large number of civies coming from the direction of the Government district."

"_Showtime copies all, Archer." _The voice of Command was nearly drowned out by the sound of the Osprey lifting off behind them. _"We're working with Tokyo PD to gain access to surveillance cameras watching potential movements of hostiles, but they've got their hands full at the moment."_

"Understood, keep us in the loop. Archer out."

The marines posted up along the street behind whatever cover they could find, most setting up around cars or walls, while the rest choose opted to just go prone. No one spoke, the air filled with the sounds of distant battle. Or not so distant, Joker's ears picking up on some screaming that was coming closer.

"Eyes up boys and girls." Reaper said from beside him. "Someone's bringing a party our direction."

Everyone tensed up, fingers on their triggers as they waited expectantly. Emerging from around a corner came a group of three people, a man carrying a small child and a woman right behind them. They were yelling something Joker couldn't understand while sprinting in a panic towards their blocking position. His translation came just a second later as another group of figures emerged. Four of them, humanoid monsters that walked on two legs like humans but looked like monsters from hell with strange deformities that ranged from one having blue skin and another that looked like a demented farm animal. All were armed with blades that glimmered from fresh blood. No doubt about it, these were invaders from another world. And they were chasing after the family like a pack of rabid dogs. The civilians wouldn't be able to reach the marines before their assailants were on them, which left only one choice.

"Drop them, but don't hit the civs!" Mitchell ordered, reaching the same conclusion Joker had.

The two squads opened fire, none coming close to the family that screamed even louder once the shots rang out and began to devastate the attackers. Blood spurted from the gaping wounds in three of the attackers, and then stumbled back dead before they even hit the ground. The fourth one dove forward and seemed to somehow roll itself into a ball as it charged forward once more. It sprang back up a moment later, jumping high into the air and brought it's dagger up to impale through the man carrying his child. Letting motor reflex guide his aim, Joker directed his barrel toward just below the creature was and snapped off two shots. As he'd planned, it's downward fall took it right into the path of the Sniper's bullets, one striking in its chest and another at the crown off its head. It gave a squealing noise as it fell back to the ground, some of its blood getting on the man's clothing. But the family wasn't hurt.

Realizing their tormentors had been dispatched, the three of them stopped in front of the marines and looked like they were about to thank them, but Captain Mitchell waved them on.

"Keep going! It's not safe here!" He yelled. The family seemed to take the hint and continued running past them.

"Excuse me, but what the FUCK?!" Someone yelled out. "Those things ain't human!"

"Definitely don't look like they're from around here." Mitchell agreed. "Reaper, Jackson, check out that one at the front. But keep your distance in case it ain't dead."

"Rah." The spotter stepped out of cover along with another marine, moving carefully down the street and keeping their weapons at the ready in case anything popped up. Once they were about ten feet away, Reaper risked a glance at the thing Joker had shot. "Thing's definitely dead boss. Brain's splattered on the road."

"What is it?"

"Fucked if I know, it looks like a damn pig." He risked a step closer. "Got a snout, ears, and everything."

"A pig?" Joker echoed. He'd spotted the similarities too but had figured it was a trick of the eye from the blur of motion that little bastard had been. "A pig with knives?! Just who the fuck are we fighting against?!"

~oOo~

"_Predator One, check ground level at your three. Seeing some possible movement in the alleyway."_

Talisman tore her gaze away from the road beneath her and the vehicles of 1st Division's vanguard traveling along it. They were far enough away from the city center at the moment that they didn't have to worry about ambushes at every turn, but she didn't believe in taking any chances. So far, they'd seen a lot more fleeing civilians then enemy forces, but she knew that wouldn't last long. They were heading into the heart of what was now essentially the occupied parts of Tokyo, and the heavy urban environment was making providing top cover for the counterattack difficult.

"Copy, I'll take a look." She answered, shifting the Apache in the indicated direction. There was a lot of buildings that area, and the alleyway in question hadn't been specified. But she decided to bring the helicopter around in an arc at low altitude to cover all the possibilities. It was a short search, as she spotted a horse suddenly rear up into the air from the third alleyway they were investigating.

"Positive contact," Razor reported. "Two cavalrymen, likely scouts."

Their cover blown, the pair darted out into the street and rode wind as fast as their mounts would carry them. In their wake, Talisman could see a body lying in the alley. It looked like a young man in a light blue jacket stained red with blood. He was face down, unmoving. A pang of sorrow and rage shot through her, as she pulled back and took aim with the main gun.

"Let's make sure they don't report back."

The two were riding fast, but in a straight line, easy to make out with their flowing burgundy capes behind them. Clearly, they were hoping to just outrun the danger rather than dodge whatever was sent their way. It was a tactic that might have worked on an Apache Warrior, but not so much an Apache helicopter.

"Guns guns guns." Talisman gave a quick squeeze of the trigger, firing in a horizontal line across the path of the fleeing scouts. The explosive ammo cut both horses and riders in half before detonating and reducing it all into unrecognizable pieces.

"Little overkill." Razor commented. "But it does the trick."

"They brought this on themselves." Talisman answered, feeling no pity at all for the murderers. She maneuvered the control stick to bring the chopper so that they would rejoin the others. "Predator Two, enemy scouts have been dealt with. We miss anything important?"

"_Not really, been pretty quiet." _The other pilot answered. _"But that might change soon."_

"How so?"

"_According to the route were supposed to be following, we'll be coming up on a small bridge here soon. If these guys have even half a brain, they'll probably have some kind of defensive position set up there to try and block out path. Recommend we check it out ahead of the ground pounders." _

They arrived back at the convoy, seeing the long stretch of vehicles down the road as they maneuvered around anything that could have blocked their path. Talisman did some quick mental calculations of speed and abilities of the current troops and the geography.

The vanguard element of the 1st Division was made up of light vehicles and troop transports, prioritizing speed over firepower for the time being. Tanks and other armored fighting vehicles would be on their way, but until they arrived, they would have to make due with small arms and whatever else the light transports could carry. The problem was that the army hadn't been in a good position to answer the threat in the best way, having been forced to take the long route into the city to avoid both civilian traffic jams and road construction to try and get to the fight. According to the most recent reports, thousands of civilians that were still trapped inside the city were taking refuge inside the old Imperial Palace to try to find some safety from the so far unchallenged enemy. The local cops were doing their best to keep up a running fight to slow them down, but there were just too many of them to have any hopes of really stopping without some serious help. It was a race between the attackers and the JSDF to see who would reach the palace first.

"Copy, wait one." Talisman said, switching the radio frequency over. "Predator Actual to Grizzly Actual."

"_Grizzly Actual, send it."_

"Interrogative, are you going to be transiting over a bridge soon?"

"_Uh...affirmative. In about five klicks."_

"Copy. We're going to temporarily detach to investigate the bridge and ensure safe crossing. You'll be without air cover until then."

"_We'll find a way to manage. Happy hunting Predator, Grizzly out."_

"Thanks." She switched back to her flight frequency. "We're green to go. Lead the way Two."

"_Got it."_ The other Apache began to yaw to the side, pulling away from the convoy as they flew ahead. It was a short journey from the air, and it took even less time to find what they were looking for.

"Looks like about fifty or so foot mobiles on the opposite side of the bridge." Razor said. "They're not moving though…. if this is an ambush, it's a pretty pathetic one."

Talisman nodded, giving her own appraisal of the group. They had massed on the far end of the bridge from the convoy, packing themselves close together to block any entry past them. Like the cavalrymen, these soldiers appeared to be human, wearing grey colored armor with purple sashes and armed with large square shields and long spears.

"They're making a shield wall." Talisman concluded. "Figuring no infantry force will be able to flank them from their position, all they have to do is prevent anyone from getting through the bridge. Not a bad tactic given what they're working with."

"_Unfortunately for them, we've kind of advanced past the Samurai Era." _Two said. _"Honestly, we could probably just let the convoy run over these idiots."_

"As funny as that'd be, it could be a delay we can't afford." She checked the watch in her cockpit. "Give them a single shot with the gun, but don't fully engage until they break and run. We really don't want to damage that bridge."

"_Understood." _The other Apache pulled to a position in front of the soldiers, prompting several to look up at it in fear. Those feelings proved to be well grounded when it fired off three rounds that struck the center of the formation. The rounds exploded upon hitting the shields, showering the group with both lead shrapnel and molten metal as the group began to break and flee. Talisman chased down the survivors and dispatched them bloodlessly, their task complete. She prepared to turn back around towards the direction of the convoy, when her radio came squawking to life.

"_To anyone on this frequency, this is JSDF Lieutenant Yōji Itami. Enemy forces have reached the old Imperial Palace and are trying to break in! We need immediate assistance; we have a huge number of civilians here!"_

Talisman paused, wondering if she'd heard correctly. Itami was a bit of legend among JSDF Officers stationed around Tokyo, a self-professed Otaku who claimed that the only reason he even took a job in the military was so he could pay for his hobbies. He was a notorious slacker, having barely passed through officer's training on a technicality and held onto his rank only by the fact that he did just enough work to keep himself from being discharged. Most other officers Talisman knew despised him, while others secretly admired his talents at avoiding both work and trouble. She definitely wouldn't have expected to find him in the middle of all this madness.

"Itami, it's Talisman." She answered. "What's your situation?"

"_I just told you!" _He answered, sounding irritated. _"The enemy force is pressing against our east and southern flanks. There's a lot of cops here, and we're keeping them away from the gates as best we can. Once more show up they'll be other to overwhelm us with numbers and siege equipment."_

"Copy just hang on, we're on the way. Out." Talisman switched frequencies. "Control, this is Predator Actual. The Imperial Palace is under serious threat, permission to head there and assist until Grizzly arrives."

"_Solid Copy Predator Actual, go get them. We'll relay the news to Grizzly."_

"Tell them to hurry." She went back to a flight frequency. "On me Two."

"_Got it One."_

Talisman pushed the throttle down to increase their speed, the rotors making more noise as she pushed forward. They weren't all that far away from the palace by this point, and Talisman could already make out the walls of the famous historical sight after just a few minutes of flying.

"We're here, Itami."

"_Great, mind helping deal with those assholes trying to push their way over to the front?"_

Bringing the helicopter around the top of the old palace, Talisman could see the mass of civilians inside. There had to be thousands of them, all cowering and fear and praying for anyone to come save them. Outside, a sea of enemies swarmed like locusts, waiting for the right moment to feast. There were several trebuchets with them, clearly preparing to make a final assault on a palace that hadn't seen warfare in centuries.

"If they break through, it'll be a massacre…" Razor said, his voice hoarse.

"They won't. We brought the better dragons to this fight." Talisman did a quick check over her fuel and ammo. They didn't have a whole lot of either left, but they'd have to make it work. "Two, I'm coming around towards the Front Gardens, come across my north near the east gardens and engage the siege engines first."

"_I thought the Lieutenant said some of them were already at the gates?"_

"We'll have to leave them to the cops for now, if those trebuchets manage to knock down a wall, they won't have the numbers or ammo to repel an attack through the breach."

"_Copy."_

Some of the small dragons began to fly up towards them now, and Talisman quickly chewed them up before hitting a switch on her weapon console and lining up a new target on her display.

"Predator One, rockets away!" She called, watching the explosives fly straight towards one of the trebuchets and reduce it to a pile of matchsticks in a fantastic burst. All the soldiers around it ran away from the impact zone, some futilely trying to fire arrows at her Apache.

"_Predator Two, rockets away!" _To her left, Talisman saw repeat of the same as the two attack helicopters circled overhead and made way for another pass, continuing the process until all the siege engines had been destroyed.

Once that was accomplished, she started focusing on large groups of enemies that were still clumped together, hitting them with rockets while Razor took control of the main gun and kept any of those groups from attempting another charge at the gates. What stragglers did make it through were picked off by the police, who were now firing tear gas into the enemy lines to keep up the pressure.

But even with all that, the enemy army didn't break, and Talisman felt a grudging sense of being impressed by their discipline. Whoever they were, they seemed to be well trained and probably well led. But that didn't help the JSDF much at the moment, especially when she saw her ammo counter getting lower and lower. She fired off the last of the rockets, a few seconds later hearing the loud _clunk_ that signified the main gun running dry on rounds.

"_I'm out!" _Predator Two reported. _"Winchester!"_

"Now what do we do?" Razor asked.

Talisman ground her teeth in frustration. They'd spent everything they'd had, but the enemy still hadn't broken. If the enemy rallied now, they might just be able to try another charge to break through the gates before the First Division Vanguard arrived. They had to buy just a little more time, somehow. As she wracked her brain, Talisman saw some of the large ogre-like creatures they'd encountered earlier take position near the front of the enemy formation. Likely they were a form of shock troops, giant oafs that could be used for brute force more than brainpower.

Then the idea hit her.

"Two, I'm going to try something." She said. "Follow my lead."

She brought her Apache near right about the front of the enemy group preparing to make the charge. Dropping her altitude lower, she flicked one of her emergency switches.

"Predator One, flares away!"

Over a dozen of the red-colored countermeasures flew free from their slots on the helicopter's chassis, spilling out to both sided and dropping to the ground in front of the attackers. Just as she hoped, the ogres stepped back in fear of these burning orbs, several tripping over and falling on the human soldiers behind them. Predator Two had caught on, making a similar run over his group with nearly exactly the same effects.

That was it, that had been Talisman's last gamble. She kept the chopper passing in front of the gate in what she hoped would be seen as a menacing pattern, like an injured wolf daring anyone to come closer. The bluff seemed to be paying off, as the enemy troops were still wary of going in the direction of the Apaches. Each second that ticked by felt like an agonizing eternity, a silent pleading in her heart that that just keep buying the threat.

Finally though, the ogres seemed to have regained their courage. They raised massive hammers and axes into the air and gave a mighty bellow that Talisman could hear even from up in the air. They threw themselves forward, their huge feet bounding them forward towards the gates to the Imperial Palace.

Then tracer rounds began to fly across their paths, cutting down the mighty beasts in a hail of hot lead.

"_Palace, this is Grizzly Actual. The calvary has arrived."_

Bringing the chopper around to get a better look, Talisman saw the vehicles of the First Division finally making their way down the Three Oh One road from the north, their mounted weapons firing away at the enemy while JSDF troops disembarked and joined in on the battle with their small arms. Almost at once, the enemy's right flank began to collapse from this sudden and violent attack. What looked like officers tried to rally their army at the center and counterattack against this new threat, but they were all cut down by the withering barrage as more and more units joined the fray.

Below, the gates to the palace swung open, and a mass line of police in riot control gear rushed out to join the fighting. A man wearing an orange shirt standing behind their line and seeming to give directions, probably Itami if Talisman guessed correctly. Under this two-pronged assault and having already suffered heavy losses from the helicopters above, the attackers finally broke and began to flee. A mass of blood and bodies choked the street and the river below, but the civilians inside the Palace were finally safe.

"You weren't a moment too soon, Grizzly." Talisman said, letting out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "Nice shooting."

"_It was a team effort Predator." _The ground force commander came back. _"Thanks for the assistance, we've got it from here."_

"Copy that. Control, Predator Group is RTB for rearm and refuel." Feeling the adrenaline slowly drain away, Talisman gave one last look at the retreating enemies before setting their new course.

The main enemy concentration had been broken, now it was time to deliver a real pounding to these invaders.


	4. Chapter 3: Hard Corps

They stopped coming after the third wave.

No grouping had been larger than a dozen soldiers, and they had brought nothing more threatening to bear against the Marines than a couple of horse mounted cavalry. All had tried the exact same tactics against the blocking position: a head on charge with weapons leveled and voices raised in a mighty shout designed to break the courage of the defenders. They had tried, and had died. The discipled marksmanship of the leathernecks had ensured they hadn't even crossed the halfway mark on the street to threaten them. Had they not been trying to cut up every civ they could get their hands on, Joker might have actually felt bad for the dumb bastards.

It was almost certain at this point that this whole thing wasn't some kind of elaborate ruse or distraction, like some had been speculating. Whoever this attacking force was, they genuinely didn't seem to know what guns were, not showing any fear when barrels were pointed in their direction and seeming genuinely surprised when bullets tore into their bodies. And that didn't even touch on the damn pigs, orcs, and all the other weird shit that seemed to be a part of this army. More questions than answers as time went on.

It had been quiet now for about fifteen minutes, no new civilians or hostiles coming either for them or to any of the other posts on the neighboring streets by Second Platoon. The sounds of distant battle hadn't abated though, if anything getting even louder as Japanese and American Air Forces began clearing the skies of the small dragons they'd seen flying above the city and more reinforcements were arriving to join the ground battle by the minute. No one said anything as they waited, breaking silence only with reports of ammunition checks and occasional reloading. For his part, Joker had placed his shots carefully, spending just over half of one magazine so far into the fight. Part of it was professional pride, but he knew from experience that surprise battles like this tended to wreak havoc on logistics, making any potential resupply difficult in the short term. Especially since the new communications traffic promised new "excitement".

"_Showtime to Archer One Actual, standby for new orders."_

"Archer One, ready to receive." Mitchell answered.

"_JSDF just shattered the enemy main force near the Old Palace, and we've begun a counter attack to keep them from regrouping. Break off one of your platoons into squads and have them move southward on a search and destroy operation."_

"Understood, will we have any support?"

"_First Division Units will try to meet you halfway on their own mission, and we have additional forces arriving from Camp Fuji at this time. But they're spread thin at the moment so your teams will need to make due with what they have on hand."_

"Wilco, I'll get First Platoon on the job. Archer out." Mitchell looked over at his sniper. "Joker, take your team one street over and start from there. We'll make a clean sweep of it."

"Anything for you boss." Joker stood up, making a circling motion in the air to rally up. "You heard the man One-Two. Let's go take a romantic walk in Tokyo."

"Yut."

The eleven other marines followed after him, Reaper taking up position at Joker's right while they led the way down a nearby alley. The confined space made him nervous, all too aware that in close quarters a blade could be just as deadly as any gun. If they had been smart enough to set up an ambush...

They hadn't been, no sharp fanged monsters waited to pounce as they emerged onto the next street. In fact there wasn't anyone at all on the deserted street, the abandoned cars and discarded papers flowing in the breeze giving the whole scene an eerie familiarity with post apocalyptic media.

Urban warfare was always a tricky thing, even for experienced grunts like Joker and the others who'd fought in the Middle East. Even without the threat of snipers, one of a Marine's biggest nightmares just below IEDs, there were just too many hiding places and cramped conditions that even a knockoff Spartan warrior could turn to his advantage. And that wasn't even considering non-combatants, since there was no way all the millions of people who lived and worked here had managed to pick up and leave in such a short timespan. Rudely enough the bad guys rarely cared about the kind of headaches these sorts of things caused, and so they'd just have to suck it up and get on with the job at hand.

"Fan out, one fire team on each side of the street and one pick up the rear." Joker instructed, keeping his rifle level as they pushed on down the street.

"How far are we gonna go?" Reaper asked.

"Until we're told to stop or our contracts expire."

"So the heat death of the universe, great."

The discussion was cut off when one of the marines held his fist up in the air, signaling the group to stop. They all dropped to a knee, keenly alert as they scanned around for any threats.

"Movement up ahead." He whispered. "Looks like a group of foot mobiles."

Joker motioned for the others to stay low and move up, taking the point position as he went to crouch behind the front bumper of a nearby car. From his low visibility position, he could just barely make out the group without giving his own position awat. About a squad size, he estimated, one of them shouting at the others that didn't sound like any language Joker had ever heard. All looked human enough, wearing armor that reminded him of old movies about Roman legions marching to war in distant lands, save for the fact that these guys looked like they'd been roughed up a bit. Several of them were bleeding, and the cape worn by the yelling man seemed to have been singed by some kind of blast. Probably survivors who were trying to flee from the JSDF pushing from the northeast, just like the civilians they were happily butchering earlier. Well, Joker figured the Japanese wouldn't mind if he cleaned up for them.

"Weapons free."

Completely preoccupied with the berating of their leader, the squad never even noticed the Marines lining up shots on their flank. They were deviated when the shooting started with more than half dropping dead before anyone had been given a chance to react. One of them belatedly tried to raise a large square shield to protect himself, but it did little to stop the 5.56 heading straight towards him. Joker saved the officer for himself, dropping the loudmouth with a steady pair of shots to his torso.

"Contact! More hostiles coming from the front!" Reaper reported over the cacophony.

It was like the gunfire had been a lit beacon, as over a dozen newcomers started spilling out of the alleyways to join the battle, some human and others less so.

"Hold position! Don't let them get close!"

Had the enemy been somewhat organized, they might have tried using one of the nearby alleyways to flank the Marines and hit them from two directions. But either they didn't have any real leadership left among them, or what remained wasn't all that imaginative as the body of the enemy just ran straight towards them in a mass gaggle. It was a rifleman's dream, having that number of targets just rushing right into their line of sights. Some of the non-humans were a bit tougher, taking a few rounds to be put down for good or otherwise being faster than expected. But the combination of the sheer firepower and some crack shots like Joker made sure that none got close enough to threaten the squad. The few survivors seemed to get the hint that they may have been in over their heads, and tried to beat a hasty retreat behind whatever cover they could find.

"They're pulling back, keep hitting them." Joker ordered, standing as he swapped out his M4 magazine. "Watch the corners for any remaining lurkers."

They may not have been all that well led at the moment, but the enemy force seemed to be disciplined enough not to break into a complete route even in the face of their comrades being completely annihilated. Rather they opted to form a defensive line in front of what looked to be a 7-Eleven, which Joker had to keep himself from chuckling over despite the circumstances. Hostile reinforcements seemed to have arrived, forming a row of archers behind the survivors of the charge. Some didn't get the chance to loose their arrows as the Marines got off the first shot, but at least half a dozen managed to fire a barrage into the air towards them. Their comparatively slow flight time as they flew upwards then back towards the ground gave Joker and the others plenty of time to take cover. All fell harmlessly to the ground, and the archers had their "kindness" returned right back to them with interest.

With this backup plan thoroughly shattered, the impressive discipline of the enemy troops seemed to have finally eroded. Some broke from their shelters and tried to flee, while others decided to try just one last charge at their tormentors in a mad bid for revenge. The end result was the same for all of them. Their bodies hit the ground not long after brass shell casing as they were systematically wiped out.

"Can't fault these guys in determination." Reaper commented, making a face as he looked over the body of one of the spear wielders who had been coming towards him just a moment ago. "Or maybe it's stupidity."

"Check for any survivors, or any kind of markings intel can use later." Joker said as he watched down the street for any late arrivals. "Showtime, Archer One-Two. We just cleared out a batch of hostels near a 7-Eleven on the crossroads of….hell I'm going to butcher this, Kioicho-Dori and Shinjuku-Dori Avenues."

"_Showtime copies all One-Two. Proceed down Kiocho-Dori Avenue until you reach the German Institute for Japanese Studies at the next intersection."_

"Say again Showtime?" Joker frowned, wondering if he'd misheard. "The GERMAN Institute?"

"_That's affirmative. Traffic camera footage suggests enemy squad retreating from First Division Units might have taken shelter there. Be advised: We cannot reach the building at this time, so it's unknown if civilians are within."_

"We'll watch our shots, One-Two out." He looked back out to the others. "Listen up, we have a possible hostage situation in a German Research center down the road here. We're going to move up and clear it, but watch your fire. The last thing we need is a bunch of angry germans on our hands."

"What the hell are they researching? Anime and Manga?" One of the marines asked as they fell back into their previous formation. "Figure an internet search can do that just fine."

"Not everything is about your weeb shit, Hamilton." Another snorted. "The rest of the world actually likes getting laid once and awhile."

"Funny, that's exactly what your sister told me the other day."

"Both of you shut up." Reaper said. "We're still on the clock here."

The squad obligingly shut their traps, checking the corners and alleys for anyone who might have been hiding out. Joker was worried that an overjoyed civilian might spring out at them at the sight of a potential rescue and get shot, but the only non-combatants they found were a trickle of bodies that were occasionally strewn across the street. They stopped to check for life signs whenever they came across one that wasn't decapitated or otherwise had no hope of survival, but it seemed the attackers had been thorough, leaving none living in their wake. Joker felt a pang of sadness for them all, just people going about their day and being killed somewhere they thought was safe. That SHOULD have been safe. There was nothing he could do for them except make sure their killers paid in blood for their crimes.

It was only about seven minutes to get from one intersection to the other, even with the squad moving carefully and checking for survivors on the way. The building itself was rather unremarkable, the usual kind of business looking grey structure that seemed to be a dime a dozen in this part of Tokyo. He might have missed it entirely if it wasn't for the writing on the entrance in both Japanese and a Latin language that, as far as Joker could tell, at least looked German enough.

"Move up to the front of the building, but stay low." He ordered. The entrance was a glass door, and there seemed to be a lot of windows rounding the wall on the south side. If these guys were smart enough to place a lookout, it would make a breach and clear a lot more difficult, especially with civilians possibly within.

Fortunately, the approach to the front entrance had a high wall and shrubbery a few meters away from the doors, giving the Marines plenty of cover as they moved up. Taking in the situation as quickly as he could, Joker could see at least three spots of potential entry. The first and most obvious being the front entrance, though it was also the riskiest given the visibility it afforded any hostiles within. The second was the windows on the south side, some of which were low enough to allow for rapid entry. They were better then the open glass wall of the front entrance, but could still give a nice view to anyone watching. The final and best option was a single door on the north side of the building along a side road that led into a built in garage. There weren't any windows on that side, but the single door would force the Marines to enter just one at a time. Still, it was better than the other choices by a country mile.

"Movement right!" One of the marines hissed, bringing Joker out of his thoughts and working on reflex to bring his rifle up in the designated direction. He put it back down a moment later.

"Hold fire." He said, holding up a hand. "Friendlies."

The JSDF Squad mirrored much the same movements as the Marines before recognition, quietly making their way around what looked like a miniature car dealership to join the Americans at the high wall. The one in charge of them was probably close to twenty years Joker's senior, giving the other a confident nod as he crouched down beside him. He couldn't tell exactly what the other's rank was, but he had to be some kind of Senior NCO by the looks of things. With the eight of the Japanese joining them, new potential tactics started forming in Joker's mind. There was just one rather obvious problem.

"...I don't suppose you speak english?" He asked, giving a nervous smile. Joker didn't speak a word of Japanese, and if they couldn't communicate effectively, this entire venture would be a lot more difficult. The older man held up a finger, then looked behind him.

"Kuribayashi."

A shorter woman with chestnut brown hair moved forward towards them, a dark broad smile on her face as soon as she saw Joker and the others.

"Marines? Oh hell yes." She said in unaccented english. "Now we can kick some serious ass."

"Right." Joker said, surprised by her language skill while the back of his mind seemed to be focused on the woman's attractive physical qualities. Fortunately, the rest was firmly focused on the job at hand. "If you don't mind, we'll take the lead on this one."

The woman, "Kuribayashi", conferred for a moment with the older man before nodding at Joker.

"You have more experience at this then we do, so we'll follow your instructions."

That was good, Joker had been worried the other might argue since he technically outranked the sniper.

"We're going to breach from the north entrance and flood into the building." Joker said, holding up a flashbang grenade. That wasn't technically part of the usual gear for Marines, but so long as the Air Force was paying for it, he wasn't about to complain. "Once you hear this go off, have your team breach from the windows on the south side. We'll catch them in a pincer move and smash the enemy in between us. But watch your shots, we don't want to hit each other or any civilians that might be inside."

The woman translated again, and the old SNCO nodded, giving directions to his squad as they moved away once more.

"Squad, on me." Joker instructed once he made sure the JSDF weren't going to be too visible from where they were. The Marine squad made their way back north and onto the side road they had passed on the way in. "Stack up on the entrance near the garage."

The squad obliged, Reaper taking the "Kicker" position near the door while Joker hit the wall right behind the pointman and pulled the pin from his grenade.

"Do it."

Reaper smashed the door open with a mighty kick, then moved out of the way as Joker tosed the flashbang inside. A couple of heartbeats later, the explosive blew, and the pointman rushed inside.

"Breaching breaching!"

Joker moved in behind him, sweeping to the left as the other sweeped to the right. There was some shouting in the alien language, as two of the invading army's soldiers were staggering back from the door and trying to clear their eyes from the blinding flash. The pointman took the first one, Joker taking the other.

"Clear!"

"Move up!" He ordered, the sounds of gunfire from the other side of the building telling him the JSDF team had begun their assault as well. The next door was already opened, and the Marines swarmed through that one as well into what looked like a lobby behind the main entrance. There were close to two dozen people within, half of them civilians lying on the ground and trying to cover their heads as best they could, while the other half were charging the newcomers with swords and spears in hand.

They were fast on the recovery from the surprise attack, not giving even half of the Marines time to pass through the door before beginning their attack. Joker managed to down one of the two coming for him before what looked to be a Knight in gleaming steel armor got within arm's length of him while brandishing a longsword. Panic and self defense instincts kicked in as Joker dropped his M4 and moved to catch the "Knight" in a pinning blow as he hooked his right arm across the man's shoulder and put his strength into picking the man up and slamming him into the ground while dodging his attack. It was a technique he had mastered through years of training to be a martial arts expert, but it had been completely the wrong move.

The heavy plate armor threw Joker's sense of balance completely out of whack,and he went crashing to the ground along with the knight in a total daze. Stars exploded before his vision as his helmet hit the ground hard, and he scrambled to get to his feet but found his balance to be less than ideal. He fell back to the ground, able to make out the hazy shape of the Knight rising to strike once more. Joker's hand fell to his side, pulling his M9 sidearm from it's holster and switching the safety into the OFF position. The Knight raised his blade once more, and Joker put three rounds right into his chest. The armored figure seemed to freeze in place, as if he didn't quite understand what had happened to him. Then he fell backwards, the symbol of a red wolf emblazoned on his breastplate being covered with crimson blood leaking from his body.

Joker sat there for a moment, trying to regain his senses as the commotion went on around him. Ahead, he saw another door be kicked open and the Japanese began to push through. At the lead was Kuribayashi, a bayonet fixed to the end of her rifle as she changed forward and impaled one of the enemy soldiers at its end before ripping out and using it to slash across the throat of one of the others. It was a completely reckless tactic, one that would have been completely unacceptable in a place like Afghanistan. But here, with these kinds of opponents with that kind of woman behind the rifle, Joker found himself thinking it was kind of….Hot.

"Clear left!"

"Clear right!"

"Room Clear!" One of the Marines announced, a pair of hands grabbing Joker from behind and hauling him back up to a standing position.

"You alright, brother?" Reaper asked.

"I'm good, just got knocked for a loop is all." Joker answered, the world around him coming back into focus. "Any casualties?"

"Not besides your dumb ass."

"Have the Corpsman check out the hostages for any injuries." He said, seeing the civilians now daring to look up at the carnage that had unfolded around them. "And check the nearby rooms, there might still be more here."

"Rah." Reaper nodded , relaying the message to the others while their squad lead regained his balance.

Around him, the former hostages started to rise to their feet as the marines looked them over, many looking at Joker and the others and offering thanks of "Danke" and other words he didn't have a translation for. Joker just put on his best smile and waved them off.

"Just your friendly neighborhood Americans, no big deal." He said, feeling a bit awkward as he wasn't sure how many of them understood what he was saying.

It took him a moment to realize that something was strange, and Joker frowned as he looked over all the hostages once more.

"You see it too, right?" Reaper asked, sounding as confused as Joker felt. "Or, I guess what we're NOT seeing."

"Yeah...where are all the bodies? These guys were apparently killing every civ they could find out on the streets but not here."

"Not even any serious injuries." His spotter nodded. "Honestly, I figured this would be more of a remains recovery then a hostage rescue, but it doesn't look like this group killed any of them. Why?"

Joker didn't have a good answer. Hell, he didn't have a good answer to who these guys were and why they were here in the first place. How could he even begin to guess at their version of Law of War?

He was saved from having to answer a few moments later when Kuribayashi stepped up to him.

"Thanks for the help, but we can take it from here." She said. "We're going to make a full sweep of the building, then get the civilians out of here."

She still had some blood spatter on her uniform, eyes nearly pulsing with the adrenaline she must have been feeling just moments ago. It was pretty damn attractive, if Joker was being honest with himself.

'Christ, there really is something wrong with me.'

"Got it, pleasure to work with you." He answered aloud, not really sure if he should have berated or praised her for what he saw. The woman just smiled and moved away to carry out the rest of her orders, leaving a group of Marine's with evil looking grins in her wake.

"Thank you soooo much for your help, Justin-Senpai." Hamilton said, his voice high pitched as he fluttered his eyebrows.

"Watch out, I think we just met Joker's future ex wife."

"If you've got time to try and take my namesake, then you have time to do your damn jobs." Joker scoffed, motioning for the Marines to rally up once more as he headed for the front entrance.

"_Archer Two-One, Showtime. Give us a SITREP, over."_

"Showtime, the civilian hostages have been rescued and the group of hostiles have been taken down. JSDF is mopping up now."

"_Understood Two-One. I have Hunter Two-One moving to your location now, link up with them and push one click south towards the Hie Shrine to run interference for a Tier One group assisting in the evacuation of the Embassy, over."_

"Tango." Joker answered, seeing Humvees pulling up outside. "Saddle up Marines! We're Oscar Mike!"

~oOo~

They called her "W".

It wasn't her real name of course, but it was short, easy to remember, and it paid to keep a level of anonymity when working for the Central Intelligence Agency in Asia. Even in safe offices like the Embassy in Tokyo. Though at the moment, it's supposed safety was highly debatable at the moment.

"Just keep walking…. we're not interesting at all…" She whispered while looking out the window.

When news of the attack on the city had first reached the American Embassy, much of the staff had fled in a panic before the guards could restore order for those that remained, deputizing the armed CIA officers in it's defense while they waited for relief. The good news was that W contacted her own personal Special Action Team to carry out the rescue, the bad news being that they were taking far longer to get here then she expected.

The Commander of the Marine Security detachment chosen to pull back into the building rather than mount a proactive defense at the front gate. W had thought this to be complete on his part, before realizing that this bizarre enemy force had gone right past the Embassy without even pausing. He'd gambled that this particular opponent wouldn't see any particular significance of the Stars and Stripes flying here as opposed to the flag of Japan.

It had worked brilliantly, right up until the Japanese had crushed the attacking army and sent it's survivors straggling back this way. With their newfound search for safety, the humans had taken a newfound interest in the gated structure, while the non-humans looked like they were eager to just break things. There were only four of them at the moment, but they'd started giving the fence a good shake as if testing its sturdiness.

"Are they trying to break it down?" One of the case officers whispered.

"They might think there's valuables in here...at least if they're thinking in medieval terms. Defenses like that usually means there's something worth guarding. If they think the battle's lost, then they may be more focused on looting at this point."

"Shit, so much for our brilliant deception."

"Nomad, we have unwanted guests knocking at our door." W hissed into her radio. "Where are you?"

_"Still two mikes out. Hang in there just a little longer."_

"Easy to say from up there…" she growled.

"Uh oh, one of the big fuckers is back!"

W brought her gaze back to the main fenceline, swearing as she saw one of the giant trolls carrying a massive Warhammer stepping forward. If it was given the chance to smash open the entrance, the entire Embassy would be open to attack. The Guard Commander reached the same conclusion.

"Open fire! Don't let them through the gate!"

The front doors were thrown open, and the Marine Guards began laying down rifle fire at the would be intruders. The attackers shouted and began to press hard against the fence, making it lean hard against it's railings even as several fell dead from the bullets. But more were coming to join them as the sounds of combat filled the air .W raced out the door to join in on the battle, firing her handgun and taking position to be out of the Marines' way if they needed to maneuver. The troll didn't seem to be all that bothered by the small arms, seeming to shrug the bullets off for the most as it gave a swing of it's mighty hammer.

The fencing bent backwards dramatically, and several of the humans began to climb on top of it to try and hop over. W shifted her fire to these new threats, picking them off before they could be given a chance to charge across the courtyard. But it wouldn't matter in a moment if that Troll was able to knock the gate completely over and allow them to swarm towards the defenders.

She was starting to get worried about her ammo count when the beating of helicopter blades began to come from above, a Blackhawk coming into view from above the Embassy and circling around to the opposite side of the enemy force.

_"Nomad is on station." _The pilot announced.

"It's about time!" W said, smiling in relief despite herself.

_"Hold on, I've got these guys."_ The Blackhawk's minigun started to spin up, spraying down the entire area around the fence with explosive rounds that reduced even the massive troll into bloody chunks. The war cries of the hostiles were replaced by terrible screams of pain and agony as Nomad continued his attack run down the road and gunned down any groups they could spot. When the smoke cleared, the fence had been completely obliterated, though it mattered little as even less remained of those who had been assaulting it just moments before. _"No more hostiles in view, the Embassy is clear."_

The helicopter came back around to hover above the courtyard, two ropes dropping down as a squad of five men clad in black tactical gear repelled to the ground below.

"Circle around to see if there's any other wandering groups of assholes Nomad." W said, walking over to the new arrivals. "Then come back here and get ready for pickup."

_"Wilco."_

"You guys sure took your sweet time getting here!" She yelled at the SOG team after they finished conferring with the Marine Guards.

"Sorry, couldn't get an Uber." Spar, the team's pointman, answered dryly.

"That would have been a lot less funny if you'd come to rescue a bunch of corpses." W crossed her arms, looking directly at the team's Captain. "You cut it pretty close."

"There was a lot of confusion and conflicting orders." Maze said. Even in his unmarked uniform, the former Green Beret looked every bit of a poster boy for the US Military, from his chisled facial features to his sharp brown eyes. "We figured you'd appreciate Nomad being armed and fueled."

"Conflicting orders shouldn't be an issue when I'M the one giving you instructions."

"A bit hard to swing your authority around whenever your trapped in an Embassy while we have to deal with actually doing the work."

"Whatever." W decided to let it go for now. They'd arrived before any casualties had been suffered among the defenders, so a prolonged argument wouldn't be worth the effort. Especially since she had more important things to focus on. "What's the situation in the rest of the city?"

"It's pretty much over with now from the sounds of things." Spar shrugged. "There's a couple of roving bands left like the one here, but nothing like any sort of organized defensive line. Just some mopping up to do."

"What about the evac choppers for the Embassy?"

"They were refueling when we took off, shouldn't be too far behind."

"Good. Then do one last check with the guards here and get ready to head back in the air, we've got things to do."

"We?" Maze echoed.

"Yes, we." W confirmed. "If the enemy lines have already been broken, then the JSDF will be moving in to secure Ginza soon. I want to be there when they do it."

"I'm lost. What's in Ginza?" Spar asked.

"It's apparently where this whole thing started. Some initial police report indicated that the invading army originated through some kind of 'gate' that appeared in the middle of the street."

"Just appearing out of no where?"

"That's what it sounded like." W confirmed, watching as a group of Osprey's joined the overhead traffic before coming in for a landing nearby. "Of course, we won't really know for sure until it's investigated."

"Still, that raises even more questions." Maze looked thoughtful. "A mystery Army ermerges from a mystery gate and attacks a modern day city armed with medieval weaponry."

"And a bunch of freaking looking things that are definitely not from around here."

"Exactly, there's too much we need to figure out about what happened here." W looked back up into the sky. "Have you finished your search, Nomad?"

_"Affirmative, where do you want me to set her down?"_

"The street in front of the Embassy should do just fine, just be ready to dust off as soon as we're aboard." She said, heading for the landing zone.

_"Tango."_

"So why the hurry?" Spar asked as the SOG Team followed behind. "It's not like the Japanese aren't going to look into it."

"You're not seeing the forest for the trees, Lieutenant." She said. "This is going to be a world changing event, and I don't intend to sit on the sidelines and let some suit up at Langley be the one chosen to spearhead the CIA's role in responding."

"So your looking to get up in the pecking order then."

W just sighed and shook her head. For all their talents as soldiers, and they certainly were talented at it, the members of SOG team Delta didn't understand the way things worked inside of the Agency. That was partially her fault and her boss's, as they did their best to keep them of the internal politics so they could focus on their given missions. It worked well keeping up effectiveness, but had it's downsides when they didn't understand her motives.

It wasn't just about rising in the ranks, information could make or break anyone within the CIA. The more you had, the more leverage you gained. Combine that leverage with actual talent and you could help decide the destiny's of entire nations. In the right hands, that meant a brighter world where America and her allies could feel safe and secure. In the wrong hands...well, that's how they'd gotten where they were today. Botched operations across Africa and the Middle East as ancient relics from the Cold War sat in comfortable offices making decisions on outdated ways of thinking. It was up to the younger generation of field and case officers like W to clean up after their messes and minimize the damage as best they could.

But if W could snag this golden opportunity while it still presented itself, then she and her allies could be the ones to make the best use out of this attack. So long as she had the will and the brains to play her hand in the right way.

_"Where too?" _Nomad asked as W and the others climbed aboard.

"Ginza." She answered, glancing out to see the Marine Guards shuffling the others from Embassy into the Ospreys.

_"JSDF is operating in that zone. What should I tell them?"_

"The truth. We're there to gather intelligence on the attack and assist them in any way possible."

Yes, the battle for Tokyo may have been more or less over now, but that would just mean there was more fighting ahead. Probably both literally and figuratively.


End file.
